Major Ins

[Billabong 0]

Just ran through the major signings of all 20 prem teams so far

After taking everything into account - My conclusion - Norwich''s step up from the previous season is a country mile ahead of all other 19 teams

That''s on paper of course, nothing is proved until a ball is kicked but you have to look at it all and say in a quiet voice - YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

WHOOOOOOOOS YA F@KIN DADDY!!!!!!!!

[Morisons Prozac 0]

Only ones that compare are Southampton (Lovren and Wanyama are fantastic signings), Swansea and possibly Sunderland (Diakite & Altidore are decent players)

[Bury Yellow 2]

I can totally understand the euphoria. The signings, the attitude of the club in general in fact everything is buzzing. To a 67 year old it does bring tears of joy and thinking of my two uncles who introduced me to The Carra in 1953. How they would have loved all this.

You can guess there is a ''but'' on the horizon can''t you? I appreciate Hoots is an intelligent likeable man and boy he can spot talent but i can''t get my head round what his two assistants bring to the table. I just hope we do see a bit of difference from last season e.g.timely use of subs, midfield players almost scared to cross the halfway line, dreadful support for the lone striker,not making best use of the talent available. We all know that we played some good stuff against the ''bigger'' teams but some woeful stuff against teams that, on paper, we were superior.

The last two games were invigorating and we know all about ''on the beach'' but I am hanging on to the hope that we will change things a bit. Those who think RVW and Hoops will bang in the goals will be disappointed unless there is a change.

What a season we have to look forward to. I hope that the fantastic efforts off the pitch to get where we are now will be reflected in performance and results on the pitch as the season progresses.

I know I m no where near as good as some on this board who express themselves superbly but I just bang away at the keyboard and post. Supporting our club for so long and getting to this fantastic point in out history I suppose I''m just a tad nervous.

Well that''s my excuse!! Just think of those who sit around be in the Upper Barclay!

[Bill 1,788]

" and boy he can spot talent"

err, I think you will find that is down to the scouting network, and the board(as Snodgrass and Butterfield demonstrated)however I do share your concerns about the area Hughton is in charge ofthere can be no excuses this season

[Mr Brownstone 0]

Agree with the sentiments of the OP, I don''t think there''s a single team in the league that has improved it''s starting 11 to the degree that we have, I don''t think we''re done yet either!

Lets hope the manager and his team can get them playing in a manner which gets the best out of them, if they can (and it''s still a big if) then a 10 top finish could/should be on the cards, and maybe a trip to Wembley too?

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"].......... I don''t think we''re done yet either! [/quote]

Agreed.

 

[dhickl 0]

Grant Holt > Ricky van Wolfswinkel

James Vaughan > Gary Hooper

Jed Steer > Carlo Nash

Tom Adeyami > Nathan Redmond

Marc Tierny > Martin Olsson

Korey Smith > Leroy Fer

Simeon Jackson > ???

Elliott Ward > ???

I think the only one of those that I am not too happy about is Steer

[ricardo 8,034]

It''s all looking good but it still has to be translated into results on the pitch.Just like Bury Yellow, I''ve been here since the early fifties and am likewise a tad nervous. Maybe it''s long experience of the ups and downs of being a Canary supporter that makes me a sort of glass half empty guy. One thing we can''t complain about though, is that the owners seem to have taken the brakes off and are making an all out effort to see how far it takes us.Fingers crossed, this really could be a breakthrough season.[:D]

[Brightside 0]

""err, I think you will find that is down to the scouting network, and the board""

Pretty much this however RvW was on Hughtons radar whilst he was at Newcastle so it shows something that he must have kept tabs on him over the following year.

[Bill 1,788]

I don''t really think the brakes were off beforeit''s that when you combine the extra £20m TV money, with the money not having to be paid to the debt it does rather add quite a bit extra this seasonchuck in likely transfer fees from Holt and Vaughan and we most likely have a minimum of £30m extra this season

[chicken 0]

I''m with you on that Ricardo.

You can never be sure.

However, in all but Holt we haven''t lost a regular first team player, as of yet (touch wood).

So I don''t see why we can''t expect the players still here to give us at least the same again. Its then down to the players come in to help make an improvement on it.

As you say, you can never be sure. But in at least Olsson and Redmond we have players that know and understand English football, they''ll be - or should be really enthused to get at some first team action.

In many ways I think Fer, Wolfswinkel and Hooper couldn''t have come in at a better time. They are to improve the departments that they have been signed for - I don''t think it would be unreasonable to expect them to do that.

I know there is an argument to say that if we played differently in style last season Holt would have scored more goals, but the reality is he scored 8. To me for Wolfy to be an improvement we should expect a return of anything over ten goals. Hooper can''t be anything but a massive improvement on Martin, Jackson and Vaughan - he really can''t. Just on his own he could improve upon the contribution of those three in the last two seasons.

Fer - well fer just has to be able to apply a bit of muscle and stature and be able to pass the ball with a bit more vision than Tettey and Johnson.

And that''s just to be a marked improvement.

That''s no disrespect to any of the players but the ones we are signing, who have played internationally or in the Champions League - its the very least you would want.

FInally, with the likes of Wolfswinkel, Fer and Hooper - the risk appears to mainly be in their price. For that reason I still think that we are yet to make our biggest risk. If we sign the likes of Quagliarella then that is a ''big'' risk. He''ll command a decent fee as well as wages. It will be our main gamble.

But in my books one we need to make. If you want to get someone a little more proven sometimes you have to take a bit more of a risk.